JoJo Siwa left fans divided over her bold ensemble as she arrived to the iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California on Monday.
After walking the red carpet in a sheer jumpsuit with bat-like embellishments on the arms, adorned with rhinestones and mesh panels across her midriff, social media users raced to X (previously known as Twitter) to express their disapproval.
In addition to receiving criticism over her bold ensemble, the 20-year-old dancer was ridiculed for her spiked black makeup around her eyes and faux hawk.
‘Why is JoJo Siwa doing Kiss cosplay?’ one X user joked while another mused they were experiencing ‘Miley Cyrus flashbacks.’
JoJo Siwa left fans divided over her raciest look to date as she arrived to the iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California on Monday
Another X user asked: ‘Why does JoJo Siwa look like she just debuted as the latest WWE villain?’
‘Ummm.. JoJo Siwa looks a MESS,’ a third expressed.
Among the many quips about her looking like she was ‘starting a wrestling career,’ others admitted that they were unable to even recognize the former child star.
For the event, the Boomerang hitmaker, who presented an award on stage, was rocking a costume from her Karma music video, which comes out on Friday.
The Dance Moms alum, who has been vocal about entering a more mature era that ‘disturbing’ for younger viewers, last attended the iHeartRadio Music Awards in 2018.
In response to criticism over her upcoming single, Siwa explained that she has been dealing with haters since childhood.
‘I think people forget that my whole life has been criticized and judged and watched. It’s not easy. It’s very tough. I’ve had a lot of people say really cruel things to me, but I have a really good bubble of people,’ she told Extra at the event.
She also told iHeart Radio that it is ‘really important’ to her ‘to make art.’
After walking the red carpet in a sheer jumpsuit with bat-like embellishments on the arms, adorned with rhinestones and mesh panels across her midriff, social media users raced to X (previously known as Twitter) to express their disapproval
In addition to receiving criticism over her bold ensemble, the 20-year-old dancer, who is presenting an award during the event, was ridiculed for her spiked black makeup around her eyes and faux hawk
The Dance Moms alum, who has been vocal about entering a more mature era that ‘disturbing’ for younger viewers, last attended the iHeartRadio Music Awards in 2018 (seen above)
‘To make crazy visuals and crazy music and somebody used the word ‘unrestrained’ to describe it and I love it,’ she explained. ‘Something that a lot of people have been saying is ‘it’s a rebrand, it’s a rebrand, it’s a rebrand. JoJo its a rebrand.’ It’s not a rebrand. Honestly, me and my team have never used the word rebrand. We’ve used the term ‘launch.’ We’ve used the term ‘new JoJo.’ But I think that’s just something that I love. This is the art. This is where we are now.’
Earlier this month, Siwa unveiled a sneak peek of her latest track, Karma, in which she describes herself as a ‘bad girl.’
‘I was a bad girl, I did some bad things/ I swear I did it off of fun and it meant nothing,’ she crooned in the first verse. ‘Another late night, another crazy mood/And I didn’t think twice what it would do to you.’
She proceeds to sing that she’s always been a ‘wild child’ and it was only a ‘matter of time before’ she ‘blew it.’
The Nickelodeon alum, who became a sensation among tweens for her hits like Boomerang, went on to drop her first cuss words in song.
‘Why is JoJo Siwa doing Kiss cosplay?’ one X user joked while another mused they were experiencing ‘Miley Cyrus flashbacks’
Another X user asked: ‘Why does JoJo Siwa look like she just debuted as the latest WWE villain?’
‘Ummm.. JoJo Siwa looks a MESS,’ a third expressed
‘Karma is a b**ch, I should’ve known better/ If I had a wish I would’ve never f**ked around,’ she declared in the chorus. ‘Karma is a b**ch/ And she’s with you right now.’
To many of her fans’ shock, Siwa also uploaded an up-close photo of her bottom and various racy images, including her flipping off the camera and holding another woman’s waist.
Many commenters compared her shedding her child-friendly image to Miley Cyrus, a fellow former child star, who also got rid of her squeaky clean ‘good girl’ image in an extreme way.
‘She’s basically letting y’all know she’s no longer a child and she’s not going to act like it anymore… so if you don’t want your kids (who followed her because she was a kid) to see her doing adult things this is your warning to unfollow… it’s not that hard to read and understand,’ one fan wrote.
Another reference Taylor Swift’s hit song, Look What You Made Me Do, by writing: ‘Sorry the old Jojo can’t come to the phone right now; why? Oh, bc she’s dead! So excited for this new era of Jojo!’
Among the many quips about her looking like she was ‘starting a wrestling career,’ others admitted that they were unable to even recognize the former child star
For the event, the Boomerang hitmaker was rocking a costume from her Karma music video, which comes out on Friday
In response to criticism over her upcoming single, Siwa explained that she has been dealing with haters most of her life
‘I think people forget that my whole life has been criticized and judged and watched. It’s not easy. It’s very tough. I’ve had a lot of people say really cruel things to me, but I have a really good bubble of people,’ she told Extra at the event
She also told iHeart Radio that it is ‘really important’ to her ‘to make art’
‘She’s hitting her adult era,’ a third wrote.
Amid some criticism, numerous social media users stood up for Siwa as they asked others to allow herself to ‘discover herself.’
‘Why do we gotta harsh on her so hard when she’s just like every single one of us tryna get by in life? Is it just because she’s famous?? Just leave the little lady be,’ one asked.
Another wrote: Jojo is growing up and is allowed to expand herself!!
Earlier this month, Siwa unveiled a sneak peek of her latest track, Karma, in which she describes herself as a ‘bad girl’
‘I was a bad girl, I did some bad things/ I swear I did it off of fun and it meant nothing,’ she crooned in the first verse. ‘Another late night, another crazy mood/And I didn’t think twice what it would do to you’
She proceeds to sing that she’s always been a ‘wild child’ and it was only a ‘matter of time before’ she ‘blew it’
Still some expressed confusion over when Siwa was ever ‘a bad girl’ and felt that ‘lyrically’ the song did not match her lifestyle.
One concerned follower predicted that the former Dance Moms star was ‘having a psychotic episode.’
Her post came just day after opening about her love life at the 2024 GLAAD Awards.
When asked if she was currently dating anyone, the reality star said: ‘Actually, I’m sure you wouldn’t like to know, but I’m sure you would like to know.’
‘I got a good word for it — messy,’ she admitted. ‘I’m messy.’
Previously, Siwa dated TikToker Avery Cyrus and Kylie Prew, who she first on a cruise in 2020.
